A conventional rear-facing golf cart seat has a plywood seat cushion backer board topped by a foam cushion and a vinyl cover. The vinyl cover is wrapped around the foam cushion and attached by staples to the plywood backer board. The cushion assembly is then screwed to a flip board with wood screws so that the seat can be flipped over to create a cargo bed. Over time, water intrusion causes the wood to rot regardless of the quality of the wood.
In order to address the rotting problem of a wood the seat backer board, a poly backer board has been substituted for the wooden seat cushion backer board. The poly backer board served as a portion of the cargo bed when the seat was flipped to the cargo position. The poly backer board, however, tended to warp over time creating an uneven cargo bed. Consequently, a conventional convertible rear-facing golf cart seat with a poly backer board generally required a steel frame around the outside of the poly backer board thereby creating undesirable weight.
Further, a poly backer board was usually attached to the golf cart frame by a piano hinge so that the seat could unfold into a cargo bed. This construction resulted in a cargo bed that had no rail around the edge so that cargo had to be tied down or the cargo would slip off the edges of the cargo bed. As a result of the deficiencies of the poly backer board without the railing, a steel or aluminum angle frame with a piece of plastic or sheet of metal creating the floor of the cargo bed was proposed. This configuration creates a rail for cargo but increases cost and results in a construction that is subject to corrosion and in most cases is subject to a problem created by water intrusion into the seat cushion.
Consequently, there is a need for a convertible golf cart seat that is not subject to rot, corrosion, or warping, is strong enough to bear weight on its rear portion, resists water intrusion into the foam seat cushion, and can retain cargo on the cargo bed without the necessity of tying down the cargo.